Absolution Brewery opens Saturday in Torrance. It's the fifth craft brewery to open in the city over the last five years, an indication of the city's rising stature in the industry. Two of the three co-owners Nigel Heath, left, and Steve Farguson. Photo by Robert Casillas / Daily Breeze

Absolution Brewery opens Saturday in Torrance. It's the fifth craft brewery to open in the city over the last five years, an indication of the city's rising stature in the industry. A sample of Angel's Demise ale. (Robert Casillas / Staff Photographer)

Torrance >> The city’s burgeoning craft brewery scene will welcome its fifth business on Saturday, when the irreverently named Absolution Brewing Co. opens in an industrial park near City Hall rather than the San Diego market its owners had initially considered.

“We want everyone to come to Torrance to seek Absolution,” said wry co-owner Steve Farguson, a practicing Catholic who grew up in San Pedro before moving to San Diego.

Indeed, it was Farguson who convinced businesses partners Nigel Heath, an immigrant from England, and head brewer Wes McCann to open in Los Angeles County rather than in the crowded San Diego County craft beer market.

“San Diego exploded in the last 10 years, especially in the last five years, going from 27 breweries to 84 today, and we knew Angelenos were drinking our beer,” Farguson said, adding that there are far fewer craft breweries here. “So an underserved market looked like a huge opportunity.”

Torrance’s welcoming business environment proved another draw.

The city has created a craft beer industry out of nothing since Strand Brewing opened its doors in October 2009.

Torrance now boasts more craft breweries than any city in the county. Municipal planning officials said Thursday they receive two or three inquiries a week from potential craft brewery operators.

“Torrance publicly stated they were beer-friendly and wanted to create a beer industry environment just as San Diego had,” Heath said. “It was a positive feeling about Torrance and their fledgling beer industry. That is why we are here today.”

Absolution is one of several new breweries poised to open in the South Bay and Harbor Area in the coming months. Others include King Harbor Brewing in north Redondo Beach, Brouwerij West in San Pedro and Phantom Carriage in Carson.

Year-old Dudes’ Brewing Co. will also open a tasting room in the first week of August at its Torrance location.

Advertisement

The growth locally mirrors national trends.

The National Brewers Association said 310 breweries opened in the U.S. in 2012 alone, bringing the total number to 2,403 that year, the highest total since the 1880s.

Like many of those Absolution is a small operation; there are just four modest-size, 10-barrel fermenters dwarfed by the high ceilings in the 7,000-square-foot brewery at 2878 Columbia St. But that also provides plenty of room to grow, especially since the trio ensured the concrete floor was thick enough to handle bigger equipment when the day comes without tearing it up and starting anew.

Absolution rides its religous-themed marketing to hell — or is that heaven — and back.

Pews from a Northern California Episcopalian retreat in which Heath is active provide much of the seating in the brewery tasting room.

The names of the 19 beer styles Absolution offers — 10 will be available on opening day — include Cardinal Sin Red Ale, Sinner Stout, Angel’s Demise India Pale Ale and Possessed Porter.

And, yes, it almost goes without saying that the brewery’s T-shirts are black.

Absolution’s brewing philosophy combines Old World styles with New World ingredients, focusing on lower alcohol session style ales rather than the massive, hopped-up IPAs that are all the rage on the West Coast.

They don’t forget about the kids — or teetotalers; the brewery also makes sodas that include Redeemer Root Beer and Confession Cream Soda.

And McCann is not adverse to small-batch experimental brews either.

Farguson’s father-in-law founded Tapia Brothers Farm 50 years ago in Encino and will supply the brewery with fresh ingredients.

“We will be producing beer with rhubarb, Maui onions and corn,” he said. “Wes really likes to push the envelope.”

First up in March: a strawberry hefeweizen.

Absolution appears a good fit for Torrance’s burgeoning craft brewery scene, providing a unique twist in a market that has yet to approach saturation point and seems poised for even more growth, said Rich Marcello, co-owner of the pioneering Strand.

“We all have unique styles and a unique take on craft beers,” he said. “Much like fingerprints, no two breweries seem alike.